In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Geraldo Rivera was shot to death today by Libyan rebels who mistook him for the deranged dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Rivera was said to have died shortly after rebel fighters overran loyalists defending the coastal town of Sirte – finally ending the last remnants of Gaddafi’s 42 year hold on Libya.

Libyan National Transitional Council official Abdel Mlegta said ” I swear the guy looked just like Gaddafi!! He even had the same bad hair…We’re really sorry.” The celebrity reporter was wounded in both legs at dawn today as he attempted to relieve himself in a drainage pipe right next to the cowering strongman who had fled in a heavily armed convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.

“I swear to Allah we couldnt tell who was who” the official said. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he just wouldn’t stop talking so we shot him. Neither of them made any sense.” The rebels later recaptured the real Libyan leader and executed him after beating him with shoes as is their national custom.